Verdict
Summary
A gorgeously shot thriller, skillfully directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), The Snowman manages to completely engage and throw the viewer into a starkly realized cinematic (and literary, as this is based on a series of books) universe that packs a unique punch. Purportedly, the whole script wasn’t filmed, giving the movie some unintentional plot holes (which aren’t too big, but some plot threads are unresolved), and yet the film remains very watchable and perfectly suitable for fans of this genre. Marco Beltrami did the solid score, and the performances are uniformly good.
Plot:
An alcoholic detective hunts a serial killer in Oslo while his life falls apart.
Review:
Alcoholic detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) is a mess of a man with substance abuse problems that nearly get him booted off the Oslo police department, but he has a particular keenness for tracking serial killers, so as luck would have it, a serial killer seeks him out personally to initiate a game of cat and mouse, much to the department’s frustration. Can Detective Hole keep his crumbling life and mind together while he goes after this killer? The victims seem to be only young married mothers, and their bodies are found unusually separated into pieces, with a signature being a creepy snowman that is the killer’s calling card. A series of killings that go back years comes to Hole’s attention, thanks to a visiting assistant detective (played by Rebecca Ferguson), who may know much more than she’s letting on, but because Detective Hole’s skill in investigating are unparalleled, he finds out the truth that she’s been hiding from the very beginning, leading to a revelation that throws the entire case into jeopardy.
A gorgeously shot thriller, skillfully directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In), The Snowman manages to completely engage and throw the viewer into a starkly realized cinematic (and literary, as this is based on a series of books) universe that packs a unique punch. Purportedly, the whole script wasn’t filmed, giving the movie some unintentional plot holes (which aren’t too big, but some plot threads are unresolved), and yet the film remains very watchable and perfectly suitable for fans of this genre. Marco Beltrami did the solid score, and the performances are uniformly good. Unfortunately, this was a big flop at the box office, and yet Netflix recently premiered a new series based on the Harry Hole books.
Kino Lorber brings The Snowman to 4K Ultra HD for the first time in a crystal clear transfer, and the package also comes with a bonus Blu-ray disc. Special features include two audio commentaries, five featurettes, a trailer, and slipcover.
